TheChief

There are pluses and minuses to both. When I was growing up, my dad owned a full-size motorhome and I had always said that I would never own a pull trailer camper because I loved the ability to be able to walk from the passenger seat back to the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom and we could tow a small jeep so we had wheels to zip around town when we had hooked up the camper. Now that I have a Toyotahome, I technically could squeeze from the front seat to the back, but it would be easier to pull over, get out through the cab door, walk outside, and enter through the coach door. That, plus the fact that my Toy can't tow a car, means that I'm stuck driving the RV as my primary means of conveyance OR my wife has to follow me in her car. That isn't too big of an inconvenience for short, weekend trips, but might be a hassle on longer trips or long duration stays. Plus, it is inconvenient to have to unhook my electric, water, sewer, and cable TV lines every time I want to drive into town to grab something to eat. If I was going to be living in my camper, I would prefer to get a bigger motorhome or get a truck and pull trailer. I love my little Dolphin, and hats off to you guys who are able to do really long duration stays in them, but I can definitely see the value in getting a pickup and a pull-behind if you might be using your camper to live and work in. Linda is right, though, trailers are easier to steal than motorized RV's, so if you're keeping all of your worldly possessions in there, I would want to be parked someplace that is relatively secure. If you do choose to stay with a motorized RV, I would recommend going with the 21 footer. From I driving standpoint, 21' is only marginally bigger than 18', but it gives you a lot more interior and/or storage space.

rmarcil, I will be interested in hearing what others have to say. I wanted to mount a portable generator on my tow hitch for times when I traveled 'self-contained' and didn't stay at RV parks. Total weight (including generator, fuel, and the cargo carrier) will be about 150 pounds. I ended up purchasing the generator and hitch, but all the trips I've taken this season have been to parks with electricity and water, so I've yet to set up my generator and see if my rig - a 1984 Dolphin - has any problems toting it around. That being said, before I made the purchase, I did a lot of research and found several people on these forums who have had cargo carriers and/or hitch-mounted bicycles with loads of 50 - 125 pounds that said their RVs didn't flinch at the extra load; however there is a big difference between 100 pounds worth of bicycles and gear versus a 300 pound motorcycle. I would let you know how well mine handles the 150 pound load, but all of the trips I have planned for the rest of this season won't require a generator, so I might not try it out until next spring.

110. It's just a regular residential mini-fridge.

As usual, you guys are going to have to forgive my newbie ignorance here, but since the topic of coach batteries and 12-volt systems was brought up, I was hoping someone might be able to educate me. I have a 1984 Toyota Dolphin that I bought last year and have taken out on only one trip, so I'm still in the learning mode. I grew up as a kid spending the summers in my granddad's motorhome but I'm quickly finding out that his high-end Monaco was a lot different than my little Toyota is, so I'm having to re-learn things all over again. Here is my understanding of things, please correct me if I am wrong on any of this; the coach battery will charge up whenever you are connected to an outside power source (shore line or generator) or from the vehicle's alternator when the motor is running. If you are connected to an outside power source (shore line or generator,) that will power the coach. When you are just sitting, parked and not connected, you are running off of your coach battery. So, when I am running down the road and use electricity in the coach, does the alternator in the vehicle power those things, is it pulling the coach batteries down, or is it dependent on other factors? My follow-up to that would be, can I run my (electric-only) mini-fridge while driving down the road? I don't want to do something to ruin my battery or overtax the vehicle's electric system, but otherwise is my fridge (since it isn't LP fueled) basically a fancy cooler from the time I pull out of the driveway until the time I plug in at the campground?

Is there any resource that shows what is the maximum allowable tongue weight for the receiver hitch? I would like to put a cargo carrier on the back (using the receiver hitch) to mount a portable generator. Total project weight should be about 150 - 160 lbs. I've been hesitant to pull the trigger on this project for fear that I might overload the hitch or put too much weight on the rear of my rig. Anybody have any thoughts? (I have an '84 Dolphin.)

Good evening. A few weeks ago, I bought a 1984 Toyota Dolphin which is our family's first RV. After spending the last few weeks "moving in", fixing a few minor issues, getting it licensed, etc. we are almost ready for our first camping trip. My problem is that I have very limited experience operating L.P. gas appliances. Every place I've ever lived either had electric appliances or very late model natural gas appliances that had automatic igniters and were very user friendly. So far I've been able to successfully light my gas range (so I know my propane system works), but that's it. I've tried to get my water heater's pilot to light, but can't. As for my furnace and my oven, since I have no experience with gas furnaces or ovens, I don't know if I need to light a pilot for either of those nor do I know how to go about doing that. The manuals for both appliances are poorly written and aren't any help. Any advice would be of great assistance. I'm a little skittish around flammable gases and would like some expert advice before I jump right in and 'experiment' and run the risk of burning myself. Meanwhile, I have an awesome little RV sitting outside of my house but that I can't take camping. Thanks in advance for any advice.